James Tupper (born August 4, 1965) is a Canadian actor known for his roles as Jack Slattery on the ABC television series '' Men in Trees'', Dr. Chris Sands on the NBC medical drama series '' Mercy'', and David Clarke on ABC's ''

Revenge Revenge is defined as committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Vengeful forms of justice, such as primitive justice or retributive justice, are often differentiated from more fo ...

''. He also starred in the post-apocalyptic thriller '' Aftermath'', on

Space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

in Canada and Syfy in the U.S., and in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series '' Big Little Lies''.

Early life

Tupper was born in Dartmouth,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. He studied acting at

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, and later at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, where he earned a master's degree.

Career

Tupper acted in several

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

plays, including ''An Actor Prepares'' and ''After the Rain''. He co-wrote and appeared in 2005's ''Loudmouth Soup'', a fully improvised independent film that was filmed in one night with no script and no second takes. In 2006, Tupper started portraying Jack Slattery in the ABC series '' Men in Trees'', credited for all 36 episodes of the show's run. He then appeared as Dr. Chris Sands in the NBC medical drama ''Mercy'' for 22 episodes before it was cancelled in 2010. Tupper appeared as Dr. Andrew Perkins, a trauma counselor, on ABC's ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

''. He appeared in seven episodes in the show's seventh season. Tupper appeared on ABC's ''

'' from 2011 to its cancellation in 2015. He portrayed the character of David Clarke, the supposedly deceased father of the main character. His character had a recurring role for the first three seasons, appearing only in flashbacks and videos. Tupper was promoted to main cast for season four after it was revealed in the season three finale that his character was still alive. On September 27, 2016, the

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada-produced post-apocalyptic action thriller '' Aftermath'' debuted on Canada's

network and on America's Syfy network. While starring in this series, his real-life partner Anne Heche played his wife for the series. In addition to his acting role on the series, Tupper also served as co-producer. The freshman season's 13-episode run ended in December 2016; the series was not renewed. From 2017 to 2019, Tupper had a supporting role in the

drama series '' Big Little Lies'', portraying Nathan Carlson, husband of Zoë Kravitz's Bonnie Carlson and ex-husband of

Reese Witherspoon Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon (born March 22, 1976) is an American actress and producer. She is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Reese Witherspoon, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Aw ...

's Madeline Mackenzie.

Personal life

Tupper split from his wife, Kate Mayfield, in November 2006; they were still married as of early 2009. He began dating actress Anne Heche in 2007, they met on the set of ''Men in Trees'' and went on to co-star in the 2008 film ''Toxic Skies''. Their son Atlas Heche Tupper was born in March 2009. They split in January 2018.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

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James Tupper Bio
5 {{DEFAULTSORT:Tupper, James 1965 births Living people Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors People from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Concordia University alumni Rutgers University alumni Male actors from Halifax, Nova Scotia 21st-century Canadian male actors